From Innisbrook to World Woods, my 10 favorite public golf venues around Tampa Bay

There's a lot of terrific golf in the Tampa area, but I haven't found anything I like better than the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla. (Courtesy of Salamander Resorts)The critically acclaimed Pine Barrens Course is one of two terrific tracks at World Woods Golf Club near Brooksville, Fla. (Mike Bailey/Golf Advisor)The Tom Fazio-designed Quarry Course at Black Diamond Ranch ranks high on the wow meter. (Courtesy of Black Diamond Ranch)Perfect Tif-Eagle greens provide quick putting surfaces for golfers at the Ritz-Carlton Members Club-Sarasota golf course. (Mike Bailey/Golf Advisor)Golfers can play a high-end Pete Dye design at Southern Hills Plantation in Brooksville, Fla. (Courtesy of Southern Hills Plantation)With 36 well-designed holes and reasonable green fees, Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club is well worth the half hour or so drive from Tampa. (Mike Bailey/Golf Advisor)Kingsway Country Club in Lake Suzy, Fla., just north of Punta Gorda, boasts some of the best greens in the area. (Courtesy of Kingsway Country Club)The affordable Club Renaissance at Sun City Center, Fla., is a Chip Powell design that opened in 2002 and a Tampa area favorite. (Courtesy of Club Renaissance)With lots of water and great conditions, the Renaissance Vinoy Golf Club is an amenity of the St. Petersburg resort of the same name. (Mike Bailey/Golf Advisor)TPC Tampa Bay is in Lutz, Fla., just 25 minutes from Tampa International Airport. (Courtesy of TPC Tampa)

While the PGA Tour plays on the famed Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort near Tampa, Fla., it's hardly the only quality play in the area.

Innisbrook, however, is my top choice for golf in the region, but it has a lot of competition. I just think it's the best combination of shotmaking, conditioning and the dramatic finish known as the Snake Pit. But if you continue north of Tampa to the Brooksville area, you hit the jackpot with World Woods and Black Diamond Ranch, in particular, and if you head south or west of Tampa, there are few other great choices.

Here, then, are the top 10 places the public can play golf in the Tampa Bay area. Some on the list are actually private but do offer limited public or resort play. (For the record, I've omitted the excellent Streamsong Resort from contention, which is a little too far from Tampa in my opinion at about 70 minutes from Tampa International Airport.)

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1. Innisbrook Resort, Palm Harbor

Simply put, the recently refreshed Copperhead Course, one of the favorites among PGA Tour players, puts Innisbrook at the top of the list. Home of the Valspar Championship, Copperhead is the best of the four golf offerings in this resort community; and while the other three aren't quite in the same league, they're excellent tests of golf, especially the Island Course.

2. World Woods Golf Club, Brooksville

It would be hard to find two courses that complement each other any better, much less two of them both designed by Tom Fazio. Sandy Pine Barrens, reminiscent somewhat of Pine Valley in New Jersey, is perennially ranked among the top 100 in the country, but locals might even prefer Rolling Oaks, the more traditional of the two layouts. (Rolling Oaks was ranked higher than Pine Barrens on Golf Advisor.) The landscape is beautiful, there are no homes, and the club has outstanding practice facilities, a par-3 course and a good value.

3. Black Diamond Ranch, Lecanto

Like World Woods, there's more than one golf course, and they're all terrific, starting with the famed Tom Fazio-designed Quarry Course, which has a stretch of holes on the back nine as spectacular as anything in Florida. The Ranch Course, which many locals actually prefer, and even the nine-hole Highlands Course are both very memorable, too. You have to stay there to play there unless you're with a member, but the packages aren't unreasonable, especially for groups.

4. TPC Tampa Bay, Lutz

Designed by Bobby Weed and Chi Chi Rodriguez, this par-71 course is routed around natural wetlands, cypress heads, and numerous ponds and lagoons, making for a great Florida golf experience. TPC Tampa Bay was the home to the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am for 21 years, so you know it's always in great shape and challenging.

5. The Ritz-Carlton Members Club Sarasota, Bradenton

Guests of the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota 19 miles away can be a member for a day at this highly exclusive club. Depending on the day, you might not see another golfer on this fantastic Fazio design, where conditioning is perfect and a forecaddie is part of the deal. The Ritz-Carlton Members Club Sarasota ends with a stretch of holes called the "Lion's Den," where if you can make par or better, you can earn a free shirt.

6. Southern Hills Plantation, Brooksville

It's beautiful, but it's also Pete Dye, which means it's difficult. Still, many consider Southern Hills Plantation one of the top courses in this part of Florida, and it keeps good company with the others in the area, World Woods and Black Diamond Ranch.

7. Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, Dade City

Just a few miles from Brooksville is Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, a club that's gaining more and more recognition as a great value. With 36 holes of championship golf designed by Kurt Sandness (Tom Lehman helped out on the older South Course), and some of the highest points in Florida, you'll never get bored at Lake Jovita.

8. Kingsway Country Club, Lake Suzy

This 1970s layout was rebuilt and greatly improved when course architect Ron Garl rebuilt the course after Hurricane Charley in 2004. Boasting really good Tif-Eagle greens and seven sets of tees, Kingsway Country Club is great for golfers of every skill level. The club also features a large Old Florida-style clubhouse with a golf shop, elegant dining room, a large grill room and outside verandah.

9. Club Renaissance Sun City Center, Tampa

Just south of downtown Tampa, the Chip Powell-designed Club Renaissance is the crown jewel of the courses at Sun City Center. The front nine has an open links feel , while the back nine meanders through a large conservation area with most fairways lined with tall pines and mature oaks. The club is private but does allow some public play, often at a bargain.

10. Renaissance Vinoy, St. Petersburg

Open to guests at the historic Renaissance Vinoy, Garl also redesigned this course in 1992, but improvements have been ongoing in recent years. Befitting a resort like the Vinoy, the golf course is always in pristine condition. It isn't long at just 6,600 yards, but with plenty of water hazards, sand, rough and smooth undulating greens, it offers plenty of challenge to better players.

Mike Bailey is a senior staff writer based in the Houston area. Focusing primarily on golf in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America, he contributes course reviews, travel stories and features as well as the occasional equipment review. An award-winning writer and past president of Texas Golf Writers Association, he has more than 20 years in the golf industry. Before accepting his current position in 2008, he was on staff at PGA Magazine, The Golfweek Group and AvidGolfer Magazine. Follow Mike on Twitter at @Accidentlgolfer.

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